Monday, November 7, 2011

Baby Language Development (Psycholinguistic)

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Baby Language Development
A baby's first words are music to a parent's ears. But how can you tell if your child's speech and language development are on track?
While every child learns to speak at his or her own pace, general milestones can serve as a guide to normal speech and language development — and help doctors and other health professionals determine when a child might need extra help.
Between the magic of a child's first words—received by a parent's enraptured attention—and the time when the child grows, real communication sometimes gets lost. It is not uncommon for frustrated parents to feel like their toddler or preschool has selective hearing and isn't listening to a word they say.
What happened between that moment of non-communication, and that miraculous moment of birth, not so long ago (when a mother crooned to her newborn baby, talking softly, communicating in the oldest manner known to mankind)? How does communication happen? How do speaking and listening develop, and is there anything we can do to improve communication skills and get the baby talking within our homes?

Babies Are Great Listeners
The old adage that babies are born with a clean slate, just waiting to be filled in by environmental stimuli, has been proved wrong time and time again. Infant language researchers believe that babies are born with a genetic aptitude for language. Studies have shown that mere hours after birth, a newborn can distinguish his mother's voice from that of another woman. At around four months of age, a baby smiles and recognizes his name. Babies only eight to nine months old can remember words from a story or a simple piece of music they have heard previously. By the time they say their first words around one year of age, children can understand hundreds more words; and once the language spigot is opened, the flow continues.
Yet, communication takes place long before a child speaks his first word. Mothers have learned to distinguish a "hunger" cry from an "I'm lonely, please pick me up" wail. A baby responds to his mother's voice with eye contact, coos, and gurgles, waving arms and legs, subtle body language, then not-so-subtle smiles and cries. A scolding or encouraging tone has come to mean everything, even before the words make sense.

How Do Babies Hear the World?
Unlike the adult brain, which can filter through sounds to focus on those we want to hear, babies listen to all sound frequencies simultaneously.
"Babies have a different way of listening to the world," says Dr. Lynne Werner, PhD, a University of Washington professor of speech and hearing science. "Adults usually hear in a narrow band of sound, while babies seem to use a different approach. They don't have the selective attention of adults and they don't pay attention all the time. Instead, they always seem to be listening broadband or to all frequencies simultaneously."
This means that babies respond to unexpected sounds, often startling violently at sudden noises. It also makes the noise level that our society is accustomed to difficult for babies. Says Dr. Werner, "If you are talking to a baby or reading her a story, background noise can be a problem. Turn off the television or radio."
From Listening to Speaking: The Missing Link
At around 18 months of age, a child's vocabulary and grasp of language suddenly expands, and scientists don't know why, states the Johns Hopkins University's publication, The Science Daily News Release, "One possible explanation is that children may begin storing the sounds and meanings of words while they are infants, and suddenly they are able to connect the words with meanings." This theory explains the speaking process as being similar to separate pieces of a jigsaw puzzle suddenly fitting together.
Experimental psychologists at Johns Hopkins found that eight-month-old babies recognized relatively complex words, even when they'd only heard those words in tape-recorded stories.
According to Dr. Peter Jusczyk, PhD, a professor in the Department of Psychology at Johns Hopkins University, infants have a keen memory for learning words. "What we found was that the babies listened longer to the lists of words from stories (that they'd heard previously); significantly longer," Dr. Jusczyk reports.
Another study conducted on babies less than one week old by 11 Finnish scientists and Dr. Amir Raz, a fellow of psychology and psychiatry at the Sackler Institute for Development Psychobiology of Weill Cornell Medical College, led to more interesting results. They found that, unlike the anecdotal study-while-you-sleep approach for adults, newborn babies can and do learn to distinguish speech sounds while asleep, though it remains to be seen up to what age children retain this ability to learn while asleep.
The question this raises for us as parents is: If these conclusions were drawn using controlled, testing environments, how much more likely is a baby to learn and flourish when actually held and cuddled in a parent's arms while turning the pages of a book? Or while perching on a mother's shoulder watching her work close-up? Wouldn't it be reasonable to conclude that the more words an infant is exposed to throughout babyhood, the more words she's likely to retain and, consequently, the earlier she's likely to speak?
How to Help Your Baby Talk….?
Though babies have this marvelous, innate ability to learn and absorb, there are things parents can do to help their children develop speech skills.
Quiet, face-to-face conversations cut out distractions and show Baby that she has your full attention. Small talk is great for building up vocabulary. Basic vocabulary words can be built on, using simple adjectives and adverbs to help them grasp important concepts (hot, cold, fast, slow, in, out, etc.). If you're cooking in the kitchen, describe everything you're doing. "I'm heating milk. I'm heating it slowly. The milk is hot." Carry your baby in a back-pack so she can watch your actions as you wash, chop, and touch the different ingredients. Stimulate her senses, naming the objects you're using and their colors, their textures, the sounds and smells in your environment, especially when your baby becomes old enough to point to them. Point things out as you drive or in the grocery store. Your baby will learn most of his language from you.





When Baby Starts to Talk

Ø  Encourage your baby's attempts, never making fun of a word said incorrectly as this can put him off from trying again. Instead, repeat the word in a matter-of-fact, non-judgmental way, this time saying it correctly.
Ø  Read and sing together to improve words, language, and listening skills—and enjoy the special cuddling time this brings.
Ø  Praise language achievement; even if your baby doesn't understand the actual words you're using, he'll respond to your tone of voice.
Ø  Act as interpreter between your child and others whenever it is clear that you are needed for meaning to come across, otherwise let your child try for her own conversations.
Ø  Avoid baby talk! Though it's cute when babies say "ga-ga-goo," it confuses them and may inhibit learning when adults use similar language. Helping kids master their mother tongue is particularly important if your family lives in a foreign country and their only exposure to English (or native language) takes place at home. Don't allow older kids to use "baby talk" with younger siblings in this case, because if your family doesn't use correct English at home, your children won't pick it up elsewhere.
Ø  And finally, keep it simple. Arlene Eisenberg, Heidi E. Murkoff, and Sandee E. Hathaway, BSN, in their book What to Expect the Toddler Years remind us, "Can you understand a movie spoken in French with just a year of highschool French under your belt? Remember, your toddler has had only one year of English."

Audible, distinct, clear speech will make it easier for your toddler to pick up the language and eventually find her way through the oceans of words she's swimming in.





Baby talk: 8 easy and fun ways to improve your baby's language skills
Baby reaction time is slower than that of adults, however. Listening to her means that you may need to slow down and wait for her communication. If you can’t understand everything your baby "says," don’t worry. No parent can understand every cry and coo their baby makes. However, two things happen when you listen attentively and try to figure out your baby’s message. First, your baby has the experience of someone being interested in her ideas and feelings. Secondly, through listening over time and trial and error, you eventually do figure out most of children’s cues.
Here are some other things you can do to support your child’s language development:
1. Respond to your baby’s cries. Babies also learn about communication through crying. In the first year, crying is a central part of their communication system. When we respond to their cries, our babies learn that they will be listened to and that the world is a safe place where their needs will be met.
2. Have "conversations" with your baby. Young babies begin the skills of conversing by "taking turns." They coo, look at you and wait. You coo and they coo back. In that simple interaction, they practice the structure of conversation and they learn that they will be responded to when they reach out to communicate.
3. Talk naturally with your baby throughout your time with her. Babies learn receptive language skills long before they learn expressive ones. Your daughter will understand what you are saying to her well before she is able to speak many words. When babies grow up in a language- rich environment, they naturally learn to speak. When you regularly talk to your daughter and listen to her, she will readily learn language. Modeling language is your best teaching tool. Babies and children don’t have to be "made" to speak correctly. When you model correct language, they will gradually learn proper grammar.
4. Extend her language and describe what you see her doing. This is something parents instinctively do with children. When your baby reaches for your nose, cooing, you can say, "That’s my nose. Are you going to grab it with your little hand?" When she turns toward the sound of the door opening, you can say, "You heard the door opening. Is that your sister coming in?" When the cat approaches and she starts gurgling and kicking her feet, you can say, "Ohhh, you see Tiger coming. You look excited to see your fuzzy cat," or "Hi Tiger cat. Lisa is excited to see you coming."
5. Talk to your baby about what you are doing with her. It can feel awkward to talk to a baby who doesn’t understand you, but she needs the repeated experience of hearing you talk in order to understand your language. Before you pick her up, you can reach your hands towards her and say, "I’m going to pick you." In this way she learns language in the rich context of experience. During diapering you can say, "Here is your dry diaper. I’m lifting up your bottom so I put it on you." This not only helps her learn language, it also helps her learn to expect what will come next and participate more actively in the process.
6. Talk about your own actions as well. Engaging in self-talk around your baby teaches her language and helps her make sense of the world. Describe what you’re doing as you do it: "I’m steaming these carrots for your lunch. Then, I’ll grind them up and you can eat them." "I’m going into the other room to get your blanket." "I’m getting dressed and then I’m going to change you." "I’m going to go to work. Dad will stay with you today."
7. Sing songs or tell her stories. Songs and stories are an important part of learning language. Because they are repeated, children have a chance to learn them over time. Songs, finger plays or movement activities teach children words that have physical clues attached. When a baby has learned a clapping song, she can ask for it by clapping her hands, even before she knows how to say, "I want to sing the clapping song!"
8. Read books. There are wonderful baby books available. Look for books with photos or aesthetically-pleasing pictures. Children don’t need cartoons as their only pictures. Also, look for books with rich, varied or poetic language. Some babies will lie on their backs with you on the floor looking up at a book for several minutes at a time. Others will wiggle and squirm. There is no magic age to begin reading to children. It should be as soon as they can enjoy it. Try it periodically to see if your baby is interested.
You can also make books for your child, using photos of familiar objects and people, mount them on little cardboard (poster board) pages and put them together with string or loose leaf rings. You can cover them with plastic (sticky cover or plastic sleeves) to protect them from drool and teeth.
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Analysis Drama Twilight (Drama)

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Character and characterization
1.    Mayor Character
Ø  Bella Swan
             Isabella Marie Swan is an average, clumsy, accident-prone girl who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington to live with her father, Charlie. Though many boys are attracted to her, she falls in love with Edward Cullen, a mysterious boy she discovers to be a vampire.
Ø  Edward Cullen
Edward Cullen was born on June 20, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois and is frozen in his 17-year-old body. While dying of the Spanish influenza, he was changed into a vampire by Dr. Carlisle Cullen after Edward's mother, Elizabeth, begged him to save Edward as her dying wish. Edward has the special ability to read minds, with the exception of Bella Swan's. He falls in love with Bella soon after she arrives in Forks.
Ø  James
The major antagonist, James is depicted as a merciless "tracker" vampire who hunts human beings or, in some cases, animals, for sport. Fellow coven member Laurent says of James that he is unusually gifted at what he does and always gets what he wants, though it is later revealed that a then-human Alice Cullen escaped his clutches some time ago by being turned into a vampire before James could attack. Unlike the Cullen family, he drinks human blood as his food source. Towards the end of Twilight, James is dismembered and set on fire (thus permanently destroyed) by Cullen brothers Emmett and Jasper after luring Bella to an empty ballet studio and nearly killing her.







2.    Minor Character
Ø  Jacob Black
            Jacob Black is Bella's best friend. He is a Quileute Native American and a werewolf, later revealed to be a shape-shifter as he doesn't transform on the full moon. In Twilight, Jacob plays a minor role, being a forgotten childhood friend of Bella's. In an attempt to learn more about Cullen, Bella flirts with Jacob, and he tells her tribe legends about them being "the cold ones", or vampires
Ø  Billy Black
            Billy Black is Jacob Black's father, born and raised in La Push, and an elder of the Quileute tribe. He is described as being heavyset, having a wrinkled face and russet skin, in a wheelchair, and having black hair and black eyes.
Ø  Charlie Swan
            Charlie Swan is the father of Bella Swan and works as a police officer in Forks. After he divorced with Bella’s mother, he became accustomed to living alone, except when Bella started to visit him in the summer. When Bella is seventeen, she moves to Forks to live with him.
Ø  Carlisle Cullen
             Carlisle Cullen is Esme's husband and Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper's adoptive father. His first appearance was in Twilight and his physical age is 23. Carlisle is described to look like a model; he has blond hair,and is slender but muscular. Carlisle theorizes that when a human is turned into a vampire, they will have an enhanced ability from their previous life. He believes he brought compassion from his human life. Carlisle has had centuries to perfect his medicinal talents, therefore making him an excellent doctor.
Ø  Esme Cullen
            Esme Cullen is the wife of Carlisle. She enjoys restoring old houses and her physical age is 26. She has no special power, but has a strong ability to love passionately. Esme is described as caramel-colored hair; she also has a heart-shaped face with dimples, and her figure is slender, but rounded and soft. Esme was born in the later 1800s, living in Columbus, Ohio, where she was treated at the age of 16 by Carlisle after breaking her leg when climbing a tree. She married Charles Evenson, but was abused by him.
Ø  Rosalie Hale
            Rosalie Lillian Hale is the adopted daughter of Esme and Carlisle, adoptive sister of Edward, Alice, and Jasper, and wife of Emmett. Her physical age is 18, and she was born in 1915 in Rochester, New York as the daughter of a banker. Rosalie is described as being astoundingly beautiful, even for a vampire; she is tall, statuesque, and has long, wavy blonde hair. As a human, Rosalie was described as a woman who had beauty, elegance, class, and eyes resembling violets.
Ø  Emmett Cullen
            Emmett Cullen is Rosalie's husband, Carlisle and Esme's adopted son, and Edward, Alice, and Jasper's adoptive brother. Emmett is described as being tall, burly, extremely muscular, and, to most humans, the most intimidating of his adoptive siblings. He has slightly curly dark hair and dimpled cheeks. Emmett was 20 and living in Gatlinburg, Tennessee in 1935 when he was mauled by a bear. The injuries from the attack were severe and he was found by Rosalie, who had been hunting in the area at the time.
Ø  Alice Cullen
            Alice Cullen is the adopted daughter of Carlisle and Esme, adoptive sister of Edward, Rosalie, and Emmett, and wife of Jasper. Alice is described as being petite, with a graceful gait and hair that is short, spiky, and black. Her special ability is to see the future, an enhanced version of her ability to have premonitions as a human. However, her ability is limited; she is only able to see the outcome of a decision once it is made. Due to this, decisions made in the spur of the moment can not be foreseen.            
Ø  Jasper Hale
            Jasper Hale is the adopted son of Carlisle and Esme, adoptive brother of Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie, and husband of Alice. He was born in Texas and joined the Confederate States Army in 1861 to serve in the Civil War. Due to his extremely charismatic personality, he ascended through the ranks quickly.
Ø  Tyler Crowley
            Tyler Crowley is one of Bella's classmates. In Twilight he nearly hits Bella with his van, but she is saved by Edward.
Ø  Lauren Mallory
            Lauren Mallory is a silver blonde, fishy-eyed girl who is jealous of Bella despite being popular herself.
Ø  Jessica Stanley
            Jessica Stanley is a classmate of Bella's and her first friend in Forks. She informs Bella about the Cullen family on her first day at school. She tends to be more interested in Bella's popularity than Bella's actual character, and is sometimes jealous of Mike's affections toward Bella.
Ø  Victoria
            A red-haired, cat-like vampire, Victoria is originally a member of James' coven. She plays a small role in the first book assisting James, her lover and coven leader, in hunting Bella Swan.
Ø  Laurent
            A dark-haired, olive-toned vampire, Laurent is a member of James' coven in Twilight. When James and Victoria choose to track and murder Bella, Laurent leaves both of them and travels to Denali, Alaska in hopes of finding solace among a coven of "vegetarian" vampires. However, he does not adopt their strict diet of drinking animal blood, and "cheats" by occasionally feeding on humans.










SETTING
Ø  Forks
Most of the story takes place in Forks, Washington, and its surrounding areas. According to Bella, Forks claims the highest rainfall per year in the United States. 
Ø  The Forest
The forest is an interesting setting for a number of scenes. Commonly in literature, the forest represents a wilderness where evil and/or mystery may reside. If you've read Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter or Arthur Miller's The Crucible, you'll know what we're talking about. This may be the case in Twilight to some extent.
Ø  Bella and Edward's Meadow
A secluded meadow in the middle of the forest hosts Bella's first sight of Edward's skin when exposed to the sun. Bella describes the meadow almost like we'd imagine the Garden of Eden:
The meadow was small, perfectly round, and filled with wildflowers – violet, yellow and soft white. Somewhere nearby, I could hear the bubbling music of a stream. The sun was directly overhead, filling the circle with a haze of buttery sunshine.
In this private setting, Edward can be himself in front of Bella for the first time. He shows her his super-speed and strength in addition to his sparkling skin. The meadow is also where Edward and Bella take their love affair to the next emotional level.
Ø  La Push
Lastly, La Push serves as the place of Bella's epiphany over Edward's "kind." Jacob Black, the son of one of Charlie's friends, fills in Bella on the local lore and informs Bella that the Cullens aren't allowed on La Push reservation. This new setting clues us into the competition between Jacob and Edward – each guy has his own territory on which neither can trespass, yet Bella is free to move between them.






PLOT
Isabella "Bella" Swan moves from sunny Phoenix, Arizona to rainy Forks, Washington to live with her father, Charlie, while her mother, travels with her new husband. Bella attracts much attention at her new school and is quickly befriended by several students. Much to her dismay, several boys compete for shy Bella's attention.
When Bella is seated next to Edward Cullen in class on her first day of school, Edward seems utterly repulsed by her. He disappears for a few days, but warms up to Bella upon his return; their newfound relationship reaches a climax when Bella is nearly run over by a fellow classmate's van in the school parking lot. Edward saves her life when he instantaneously appears next to her and stops the van with his bare hands.
Bella becomes determined to find out how Edward saved her life, and constantly pesters him with questions. After a family friend, Jacob Black, tells her the local tribal legends, Bella concludes that Edward and his family are vampires who drink animal blood rather than human.

Approach of twilight
1.    Feminism approach
In Twilight is telling about there is a girl (Bella) who loves someone that is Edward a vampire. She doesn’t feel afraid although her pair is a vampire and will be confronting the big dangerous. She is a human live around vampires (Cullens), there are some trouble to live around them, one of them is there is another vampires that has different species knowing existence Bella in Cullen’s family and will making her become vampire like them. But Cullen’s family protected her especially Edward.
In the contention between Edward and James, Bella held the beg to saving Edward that lost in that contention. James bites Bella’s hand and it is make her almost died but before she died Edward can bear down James and saving Bella.
Because Bella is very love Edward she asking Edward to sipping her blood in order to can be vampire and can be live together with Edward.


2.    Sociolinguist Approach
Approach used in this story is sociological, in which the story is told that the vampires in the Cullen’s family can coexist with Bella and the human family is not aware that they live too d about the vampires. They can live together because the vampires were trying their best to live just like humans, they do not suck human blood, but the blood of animals. Edward Cullen is one of the vampires in love with Bella swan man, was d out of his common sense, but that's what happened, in a pack of vampires when making a scene, and kill humans, d where the problem occurred, and of course if the problem is to be continued of course would greatly endanger the Cullen’s family life.
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